ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland - Private information from a Newfoundland and Labrador agency in Canada has been exposed over the Internet, a report said Sunday.

Sensitive data from the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission may have been exposed, Justice Minister Jerome Kennedy said.

Canadian Justice Department files related to occupational health and safety could have also been exposed, Kennedy said.

A private contractor, who had been working for the commission, had files on a personal computer, but then connected that computer to a file-sharing program, The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said.

"We do know that they are commission files and that there are some Justice files relating to occupational health and safety," Kennedy said Friday.

Tony Joseph & Sons, a New York-based security firm, notified the provincial government of the event, which comes on the heels of a similar incident in November.

"The investigation is very early on," said Leslie Galway, the commission's chief executive officer."We are not aware of whether our clients are actually involved with the information on that computer specifically, and what sort of information may be there."